Renault plays its hi-tech hand in the upper-medium segment poker game this month with the UK launch of the Laguna II, writes David Duffy.

For the past few months everyone felt that Ford held all the aces with the new Mondeo.

But Renault promises Ford the shortest honeymoon ever with its equipment-packed newcomer.

Renault says the Laguna name is one of the few elements carried over from the former model. The car will be launched in two distinct versions, a five-door hatchback and and an elegant Sport Tourer.

Hop into the driving seat and the overall feel of the interior is distinctly German. A dash of Audi here and a flourish of BMW there, combined with soft-feel dashboard and door-panel finishes and damped grab-handles, make this a distinctly un-Gallic experience.

The sensation on the move is equally Germanic supportive seating, slick gearbox, precise steering, firm ride and handling to match.

Gone are the squidgy armchair-like seats and the soft suspension of its predecessor. The Laguna II is a wide-shouldered, sharply cut motor with attitude.

The range-topping V6 Sport Tourer, with its five-speed automatic transmission, is a class act and a svelte performer, but the 1.9-litre diesel is a stunner. The superbly refined and quiet power plant has pulling power a-plenty, a slick six-speed manual gearbox and the ability to cover a staggering 1,000 miles on a single tankful of fuel.

Renault has set its sights high with the car and aims to be one of the top three manufacturers in the market sector. There will be plenty of choice. Two distinct, tautly styled cars, five engines and five trim levels.

The Laguna II Sport Tourer will be available with a silky 210 horsepower 3.0-litre V6 24-valve engine with a five-speed sequential shift transmission, and the luxury of the top-of-the-range specification.

Technology oozes from every pore of the Laguna. And that becomes clear before you open a door.

All Lagunas come with an innovative system that makes car keys redundant. Now, there is a card the size of a credit card that operates as entry and ignition key. For entry, a button on the card is pressed to unlock the doors via remote control central locking.

Once seated at the wheel, the driver inserts the card into a reader situated on the dashboard. After recognising the card, the system releases the engine immobiliser and the electric steering column lock. Push the button on the dash and you are away. Before leaving the car, the driver pushes the start/stop button, retrieves the card, gets out and walks away from the vehicle, pressing the button on the card to lock the doors remotely.

A second hands-free system has also been introduced by Renault, but will not feature on UK models at launch. The car constantly scans for the card and when it detects the presence of anyone carrying it, the doors unlock automatically by pulling any of the door handles, thanks to a sensor behind each one.

Inside the car, the procedure remains identical with insertion of the badge into the reader. Whenever the user withdraws the card and leaves the car it is locked automatically. Operation is confirmed by a 'beep' and by a brief double-blink of the side repeater indicators.

A further breakthrough is a tyre pressure monitoring system, developed with Michelin, which can detect the first signs of a slow puncture.

The range of equipment on offer is the sort normally seen on luxury cars, including automatic air-conditioning with separate driver/passenger adjustment, new radios, new satellite navigation, cruise control with speed limiter, parking proximity sensor and larger sunroofs.

Safety systems include anti-lock brakes, emergency brake assist and an electronic stability programme coupled with traction control is available across the range and standard on the upper range engines.

For night driving, Renault says the standard fitting of Xenon headlamps increases range by almost 30 per cent. The use of electrochromic interior and exterior rear-view mirrors, which become progressively more tinted as the light level increases, avoids the dazzle caused by following vehicles.

To protect occupants during side impacts, the Laguna II bristles with front lateral airbags housed in the side of the front seats and in the trim of the rear pillars for rear seat passengers, as well as curtain head protection bags housed in the roof side rails and serving both the front and rear seats.

New equipment such as a DVD reader with wide screens built into the front headrests, for viewing by back seat passengers, is also being developed.

The existing model has served Renault well. Up to June last year, 223,230 original Lagunas had been sold in the UK since its launch six years ago 17 per cent of Laguna's sales record in Western Europe over that time.

Prices for the Renault Laguna II hatchback range from 14,270 on the road for the Authentique 1.6 16-valve, up to 19,895 for the Privilge V6 24-valve auto. The Sport Tourer version is priced from 16,595 for the Dynamique 1.8 16-valve, up to 20,895 for the Privilge V6 24-valve auto.